Amazing Pictures, Pollution in China
October 21st, 2009 by Key | Posted in News | 1,478 Comments »[QQ] October 14, 2009, the 30th annual awards ceremony of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund took place at the Asia Society in New York City. Lu Guang (卢广) from People’s Republic of China won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary project “Pollution in China.”
Lu Guang (卢广), freelancer photographer, started as an amateur photographer in 1980. He was a factory worker, later started his own photo studio and advertising agency. August of 1993 he returned to post-graduate studies at the Central Arts and Design Academy in Beijing (now is the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University). During graduate school, he studied, traveled all over the country and carved out a career, became the “dark horse” of the photographer circle in Beijing. Skilled at social documentary photography, his insightful, creative and artistic work often focused on “social phenomena and people living at the bottom of society”, attracted the attentions of the national photography circle and the media. Many of his award winning works focused on social issues like, “gold rush in the west”, “drug girl”, “small coal pit”, “HIV village”, “the Grand Canal”, “development of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway” and so on.
1. “At the junction of Ningxia province and Inner Mongolia province, I saw a tall chimney puffing out golden smoke covering the blue sky, large tracts of the grassland have become industrial waste dumps; unbearable foul smell made people want to cough; Surging industrial sewage flowed into the Yellow River…”
- Lu Guang
2. Chemical waste from Jiangsu Taixing Chemical Industrial District (江苏泰兴化工园区) dumped on top of the Yangtze River bank. May 15, 2009
3. Fan Jai Zhuang in Anyang City, Henan province, (河南安阳市范家庄) there is only one wall separating this village from the steelmaking furnaces. The villagers live in this heavily polluted environment where the village is under the iron rain every day. March 24, 2008
4. Industrial sewage of Zhejiang Xiaoshan Industrial District (浙江萧山化工园区) eventually flowed into Qiantang River. April 24, 2009
5. Henan Anyang iron and steel plant’s (河南安阳钢铁厂) sewage flowed into Anyang River. March 25, 2008
6. Guiyu, Guangdong province, (广东省贵屿镇) rivers and reservoirs have been contaminated, the villager is washing in a seriously polluted pond. November 25, 2005
7. Shizuishan Industrial district in Ningxia province (宁夏石嘴山湖滨工业园区), the tall chimneys spitted out smoke and dust. Residents took preventive measure for the falling dust from the sky when going outside. April 22, 2006
8. In the Yellow Sea coastline, countless sewage pipes buried in the beach and even extending into the deep sea. April 28, 2008
9. In Ma’anshan, Anhui province (安徽马鞍山), along the Yangtze River there are many small-scaled Iron selection factories and plastic processing plants. Large amounts of sewage discharged into the Yangtze River June 18, 2009
10. In Inner Mongolia there were 2 “black dragons” from the Lasengmiao Power Plant (内蒙古拉僧庙发电厂) covering the nearby villages. July 26, 2005
11. Jiangsu province Changshu City Fluorine Chemical industry land sewage treatment plant (江苏省常熟市氟化学工业园污水处理厂) was responsible for collection and processing of the industrial sewage. However they did not, the sewage pipe was extended 1500 meters under the Yangtze River and releasing the sewage there. 2009 June 11
12. Soil by Yangtze River, was polluted by Anhui Province Ma’anshan Chemical Industrial District (安徽省马鞍山化工园区). June 26, 2009
13. Large amount of the industrial wastewater flowed to Yellow River from Inner Mongolia Lasengmiao Industrial District (内蒙古拉僧庙工业园区) every day. July 26, 2005
14. A Large amount of the chemical wastewater discharged into Yangtze River from Zhenjiang Titanium mill (镇江市钛粉厂) every day. Less than 1,000 meters away downstream is where the water department of Danyang City gets its water from. June 10, 2009
15. In Haimen city, Jiangsu province Chemical Industrial District sewage treatment Plant (江苏省海门市化工园区污水处理厂) discharged wastewater into Yangtze River. June 5, 2009
16. Hebei Province Shexian Tianjin Iron and steel plant (河北省涉县天津钢铁厂) is a heavily polluting company. Company scale is still growing, seriously affecting the lives of local residents. March 18, 2008
17. Longmen town in Hanchen city, Shaanxi Province (陕西省韩城市龙门镇) has large-scaled industrial development. Environment is very seriously polluted there. April 8, 2008
18. There are over 100 chemical plants in Jiangsu province coastal industry district. (江苏滨海头罾沿海化工园区) Some of them discharge wastewater into the ocean; some heavily contaminated sewage is stored in 5 “Sewage Temporary Pools”. During the 2 high tides in every month, the sewage then gets discharged into the ocean with the tides. June 20, 2008
19. Jiangxi Province Hu Ko County Chemical Industry district (江西省胡口县化工园区) is by the Yangtze River. Chemical factory landfill the Yangtze River bank to expand the scale of the factory without authorization.
20. Anhui Province Cihu Chemical Industry District (安徽省慈湖化工园区) built a underground pipe to discharge wastewater into the Yangtze River. The wastewater sometimes is black, gray, dark red, or yellow, wastewater from different chemical factories has different colors. June 18, 2009
21. Shanxi Province is the most polluted areas of China. It is also the province with the highest rate of birth defects. This loving farmer couple adopted 17 disabled children. April 15, 2009
“In Some areas of China people’s lives were threatened because of the environmental pollution. Residents suffering from all kinds of obscured diseases, the cancer villages, increase of deformed babies, these were the results of sacrificing environment and blindly seeking economical gain.”
- Lu Guang
22. Elder shepherd by the Yellow River cannot stand the smell. April 23, 2006
23. 15-year-old boy from Tianshui, Gansu Province (甘肃天水), dropped out of the school after 2nd grade, followed his parents to Heilonggui (黑龙贵) Industrial District. He earns 16 yuan a day. April 8, 2005
24. Inner Mongolia province Heilonggui (黑龙贵) Industrial District, the couple who worked at the Plaster Kiln and just got home. March 22, 2007
25. Villagers from Kang village in Linfen City, Shanxi Province (山西省临汾市下康村) due to long-term consumption of the polluted water contaminated by industrial waste, there were 50 people who have cancer and cerebral thrombosis. 64-year-old Wang Baosheng got ill since 2003, he has fester all over his body so he cannot go to bed and lying face down on the edge of the bed each day. July 10, 2005
26. Breathing in large amount of dust into the lungs, people gets sick after working there for 1-2 years. Most of these migrant workers come from area of poverty. April 10, 2005
27. Zhangqiao village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan Province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的张桥村), a 45-year-old woman Sun Xiaojun (孙晓军) could not move her feet and hands since 4 years ago. The numerous hospital treatments were not effective. April 7, 2009
28. Zhaozhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的赵庄村), 66-year-old Zhao Bingkun suffering from esophageal cancer since 2004, after the second surgery, treatment cost already have reached over 200,000 yuan. His condition is in late stage, he is having fever everyday, waiting for death. April 7, 2009
29. Zhaozhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (洪河边的河南省西平县张于庄村), Gao Wanshun’s (高万顺) wife died of cancer. Now he lives in poverty. April 3, 2009
30. Linfen City in Shanxi province (山西临汾市) is seriously polluted area. Farmers after working in the cotton fields for 2 hours are filled with coal ashes. September 24 2007
31. Salt factory worker in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province (江苏连云港) said angrily, “when the wind blowing towards our side, the foul smell from the chemical factories is unbearable. There is even more poison gas at night.” July 19, 2008
32. People form Fanjiazhuang (范家庄) are ready to submit a complain filled with their fingerprints, to seek compensation for pollution damages. March 19, 2008
33. In Shanxi Province there are a lot of charitable nursing homes, to help disabled infants abandoned by their parents. April 14, 2009
34. Liujiawan village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province (河南省舞钢市洪河边的刘家湾村), 13 year old Yang Xiao in November 2008 was ill with obscure disease. She was saved by the donation of the villagers. When the grandmother saw the old village chief came to visit his granddaughter, she kneeled on the ground holding granddaughter’s hand. April 19, 2009
35. The oldest is 9, not going to school. The youngest is less than 2 years old. They lived in severely polluted area. They hands and faces were always dirty. April 10, 2005
36. Mazhuang village by the Hong River in Wugang City, Henan province, (河南省舞钢市洪河边的马庄村) 58-year-old Ma Haipeng (马海朋) was suffering from stomach cancer since 2006 and could not work in the field. He must take medicine every day, otherwise it is too painful. April 6, 2009
37. Every year, a lot of deficiency babies in Shanxi Province were abandoned. Kong Zhenlan (孔贞兰) in Qi town (祁县) who was making a living by recycling trash adopted 25 abandoned children. April 14, 2009
38. Xuanwei (宣威) in Yunnan province is a cancer village. Every year there are more than 20 people die of cancer. 11-year-old student Xu Li (徐丽) is suffering from bone cancer. May 8, 2007
39. In Shexian Village, Hebei Province, (河北省涉县固新村) the existing cancer patients are more than 50 people and more than 20 cancer patients die each year. March 18, 2008
40. Zhangyuzhuan village by the Hong River in Xiping county, Henan province, (河南省西平县洪河边的张于庄村) 22-year-old Zhu Xiaoyan (朱小燕) had a tumor in her stomach in 2007. She died after number of hospital treatments on July 2008. 4-year-old girl with her grandfather came to mother’s tomb. April 2009 2
original source: Fengniao
Followup: Interview with Lu Guang, the photographer of “Pollution in China”
Tags: Art, Lu Guang, Photos, Pollution, Pollution in China
GRAPHIC
That Chinaman in the first picture looks EXACTLY like an Ape. Sometimes I can’t tell the difference between savage yellow monkeys and savage black monkeys.
Sometimes I think Chinamen and Niggers are cursed by god – or the devil.
And which deity or demon cursed you with your bigoted stupidity?
The Troll god dropped him on his head when he was born.
Wow… It makes me sad to know that I am living in a world where people like you find this entertaining. I fear you might be the one that is cursed my friend
Which tree did you swing from Expatrick? Oh, that’s right, you’ve got no soul and you’ve just condemned yourself to Hell you bigoted, racist bastard.
You are such a small human being. That’s being generous.
Intense photography. The place is very over populated non wonder there is so much pollution. Perhaps australia shouldnt export all there coal to them.
or the whole world could come to understand that our “cheap” plastic things actually come at a ridiculously high price.
expatrick, you stink more than the river flowing near that poor Chinaman. Never forget that you are the savage albino monkey, infact we all descended from monkeys, but some of us thinks they are so scared and valuable because of their skin color. by the way there is no god , heaven or hell you will decompose after you die and will probably smell worse with all that hatred inside you.
What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have a neanderthal brain that makes you incapable of realizing that you are the exact same as the man in the picture you berate? You’re the fucking same! You descend from the same people and you’re virtually identical genetically.
Try, just try to be less of a low-brow cretin, biggoted piece of shit. You’re days are numbered anyway, so you might as well get used to it now.
You racist piece of human waste. I pray to God that you suffer long and hard for your unforgiving words. We are all human beings, and the people in these pictures are not given a choice. They have to live the way their government forces them to live. I will probably burn in hell for wishing something like this upon another human being, but so be it. But I promise one thing, when I meet you there, you will wish that you had thought about the things you have said, for I will make your HELL, an unbearable living HELL!
god doesn’t exist!
you are a fuck wit
It’s so sad that my country gave up its environment for economic growth. I think it’s mainly the government’s fault, allowing factories to flourish with minimum supervision due to corruption because it is a one party rule. There are so many government officials that I’ve heard/know embezzled billions of Chinese Yuan (Like the head Engineer for the new speed railway in June, caused the collision of two train). The government will always be the controversial part of China. It makes harsh decisions for economic growth, provide jobs and increased overall living standard for Chinese people. On the other hand, it sacrifice the environment, and the freedom of it’s people (there is no Facebook, Twitter nor Youtube in China) I visit China around twice a year and even in Beijing the pollution can be seen from the color of the sky, in year 2009 the sky rained mud, it was pretty gross.
BTW, this Patrick is not even worth getting angry over, because first I think Patrick posted this just to get attention and if he is really speaking his mind then I’m still shock there are still people like Patrick lurking among us like a maggot in my sandwich.
I like what you had to say, all of it. I just think that all countries are like Plantations which are Corporations given Nationalistic Titles. Where Everyones a Slave to the Corporate Powers of the World, the Illuminists, Masonic, Jesuiit, Zionist, The I.M.F., World Bank, The Crown, the B.A.R.,the Mechanism of the N.W.O. Agenda and All thier Agencies and Agents of which there are Many ! Thanks for Caring enough too Share what you did Tang ! PEACE
I am sorry for what my country has done in exporting our misery to your country and your people who are suffering because big corporations have figured out how to spend the least amount of money to manufacture more “stuff” than we already have from over-consumption. The environmental protection agency here would have such stringent policies against the pollution your poor people have to suffer through so the assholes have your people living in these deplorable conditions. May God forgive them. My thoughts and prayers are with your beautiful people and land.
why must racist whites always show their tendencies online. I wish we could line all of you up and decapitate you people one by one and feed your body to lions OR crocodiles. People like you serve no purpose and are a burden to all inhabitants on this planet. I have absolutely no compassion for people like you. I fantasize about cutting racist peoples head off with a small butter knife. I’d love to see the pain,agony, and wickedness slowly rise to the surface of your pupils until they fade to blackness. May GOD damn you people with sickness and ill so the rest of humankind can flourish. Please just do us all favor and stick your hand in a running garbage disposal that way you bleed to death and we can be free of at least of you cowards.
ok, not all white people are racists. that’s a little extreme. actually, no, that’s a LOT extreme. i’m not saying that that patrick guy was right, because he’s not and is just supremely ignorant and we should pity him. but come on now, now YOU are being racist. and psychotic. i think you need to talk to someone professionally about your extremely violent thoughts…
You sound just as bad as expatrick!!
You sound as bad, or worse, as expatrick!!!
shut the fuck up.
please
look whose talking…probably a racist gook
Should have titled this piece “Ever since we open up and develop”.
This is actually a very sad side of today’s China. The picture of China is and has always been very very complicated. In certain cases, it has got better, while in many others it gets worse, sometimes very horrible condition. While I was visiting a northern chinese coastal city last week, I actually saw about 100+ herons (or something like that) roaming on the beach very close to residence areas. This is unthinkable 10 years back while left China for States. I still remember that it was one of the headlines of local news paper just because a pair of geese laid a couple of eggs in a city park.
I am not sure if one can blame “development” for this. As a matter of fact, the pollution is more serious in under developed or poor area than more developed areas in China. My believe is, people will have to have the basic means of life before they start to understand the importance of environment, before they can be educated and before they know how and take actions to protect the environment and home earth.
I am pretty hopeful. And wish the best.
The development process, factories that make the cutting edge products, heavy duty machineries… are all done in the under developed poor area. Of course they are not going to put factories in a crowed city. Yes you are right, people need to be better educated about the importance of environment at each level. The actions of these factories have done in the pictures are totally unacceptable, “development” indeed is not to be blamed even though it caused to product more industrial waste, it’s the people who run the operations, only if they are more conscious about the environment issues, have better compassion, more morality, less corruptions, more common sense, not always taking the easy way… maybe these are too much to ask…
Hear hear!
The sad thing is that most of these operations are running so that the rest of the world can have cheap products while still allowing producers to turn a profit.
It’s our own over-consumption that is helping fuel this, let’s not forget.
thank you for reminding everyone that its our global responsibility to decrease our consumption of the very things made by these polluters.
It would not be hard to reduce pollution from these factories. They just don’t want to take the measures needed to keep the environment clean.
Considering that some are owned by our own greedy 1%. They have no incentive to clean it up since it’s not in their “backyard”.
Amazing pictures, shocking motives. I travelled in China in 2004, in areas which did not have these extreme sights, but China still have a long way to cope with its pollution problem!
No one deserves to live in these conditions.. especially not children. The people that decide to put those pipes expelling industrial waste straight into rivers and oceans should have to bathe in that water every day so they can see exactly what they are doing to the people and environment.. makes me sick.
Perhaps the people who decide to pollute DO have to bathe in that water every day. I’d kind of be surprised if they didn’t.
Get used to the pollution you see in these pictures.
It is the direction the entire world is heading.
I take it, Harv Brundel, that you’re not very optimistic for the future of mankind.
Let’s hope for humanity’s sake that you are wrong.
I don’t doubt for one moment that this severity of environmental destruction goes on in some parts of China. Only time will tell if the Chinese Communist Party and the other authorities realise they cannot continue like this.
Environmental degradation is indeed the most serious crisis China faces today. It will take a combination of policies, severe law enforcement (shooting a couple of corrupt officials who skipped environmental protection would be a great place to start), vast amount of money and other resources dedicated to clean-up, as well as technology.
* When my life is in the shitz, this reminds me to be grateful to be living a healthy & safe life.
Not saying China is great…but stop photoshopping this shit.
Photoshopping? you must be kidding or really ignorant!
He means the colors and tones. It makes it more gloomy then it needs to be.
Right, I noticed that as well.
Just a note to Anti-Commie – these images may not have been Photoshopped. I studied photography in college for a couple of years, and it doesn’t matter whether you are using film or digital, nearly all high quality images are “manipulated” for contrast and exposure, intensity or lack or intensity in the photograph’s colours. I did colour negative printing as well as black and white, and colouration can be manipulated/altered printing “traditional style” colour prints. This kind of image manipulation went in on colour magazines for years prior to the invention of Photoshop.
This guy is a great photographer, not because he is a whizzkid on Photoshop, but because he gets his lighting and composition right when he takes, or as, we photographers say, “creates” the photograph. I’d like to be as good as him at photography one day.
Fantastic photography by a person with the courage of convictions to show behind the scenes. China’s people have benefited by huge deveolpment that ha turned around their economy in a short period of time. Unfortunately at great cost to the environment and those who work within the contamination.
There is now way that these conditions will be able to persist. They will have to act at some point. Good to read some comments that indicate that clean up has already begun since these photos were taken.
that’s not photoshop, bro… he’s really just that good at taking pictures (of horrible things)
it hurts me :’(
and we say that a world benefits from a strong Chinese economy. At what cost?
Who says we benifit from this? Politicians who work on the boards of the companies who lay off workers to buy the cheap goods from these places? The bailout allowed bad business and bad practices to continue, that money came from china’s surplus. By way of these pollutions centers. Politics may praise that but it ruins china, the pollution is no easy clean up, and on the west it allows us to continues ruining our economy with bad practices. There is no good that comes from this.
Take these pictures with a grain of salt. Remember, you have not been to the areas where this pictures were taken. The writing seems very biased to cause emotion. A lot of the pictures actually remind me a bit of the early 1900 pictures of the industrial age in the US.
I have been to Beijing and Shanghia, which I am sure are two of the better places for a foreigner to go. People in China just do what they need to do to survive, just like anyplace else. It’s not great, but these images and especially the writing seem very exaggerated.
Indeed, many could only know these places from picture, however I highly doubt you have been to any of them yourself. Beijing and Shanghai are definitely better than any other place in China, or why do you think so many people would kill for have a place in there? Just please don’t forget the super—national Treatment you are enjoying, with or without realizing it, the billing rate which is thirty-time or forty-times of the average salary in China, the 3LDK residence paid by the company, warm smiles exclusive to a foreign faces and so many new malls and restaurants only a foreigner can afford. Of course the writing are exaggerated, how can it be true?
Even in china, people have little desire to talk about it, as long as it have nothing to do with ME or MY town or MY family, why the bother. And I just can’t imagine a foreigner would care, or simply know better than average Chinese. Dear Mr.Bethune have left us for a while.
Exaggerated? This is the award wining photo documentary, all text was translated from the original documentary in Chinese. Have you been to these places in the pictures, you know some of them are pretty close to Shanghai, maybe just couple hours away into the inland country side of China. Next time when you visit China, don’t just stay in Shanghai or Beijing, try go to the countryside, I guarantee you it will change your perceptions and perspectives.
Mike, industrial revolution of the 1900s in US is close. But we had to clean up our acts because people were getting sick and dying. It’s why we have environmental laws. I’m not proud to say it, but even in the US the government had to step in to make business owners behave. It would be nice if industrial giants were willing to put up environmental safeguards on their own. But China is also the place where they thought it would be a good idea to send off poison as a sweetener for a product commonly found in cough syrup. Want to guess how many died from that? If there is nothing to stop businesses from doing terrible things, then they won’t. Money is almighty in the large business world. Something else has to keep it in check. And if they would quit cutting corners, our over-consumerism would still buy it.
I got back to Beijing last week and I had good time, but the pollution almost killed me. I could not bread, I got sick! I can not understand how people can live in this environment. I also saw many disable children.Thanks to the photographer for showing the true..maybe some organization like OMS could stop the China’s government for killing and abuse their own people. It is really sad to see the reality in China.
This is our country! This is our hometown!
We must take action to stop pollution!
This is the actual story behind the ecoomic growth. This showed we get so obsessed with numbers(GDP) that we simply overlook the ground realities. Not only China but all the developing countries are facing the same problem. Health and environment should be the priority of every country. That can only make a country successful.
Thank you Manjari. You have got right to the heart of the matter.
i feel bad for china
So sad to see the world and its weaker people being destroyed in this way.
but the world isnt going to nd in 2012 bc they said that in 2000
Nothing will ever change. A few will always exploit the masses.
China, India and Africa are the best examples.
The “civilized” world doesn’t give a **** because these poor creatures pay in blood the cost of their relaxed existence.
Development has its price! If we just think of personal gains and forget to consider others, surely we will suffer the consequences of our acts.
Due to human’s insatiable wants and needs, we are destroying nature.
Though these pictures are disturbing and sad, we, the USA, are largely responsible for this outcry. Humanitarians are berating China for their poor work environments and awful pollution, as seen prior to the Olympics, but do they, do we, really know the cause? When we go to Walmart or Target to purchase a shower curtain or flat-screen TV, we are decidedly feeding this growing issue.
US Corporations cannot afford or are unwilling to pay the outrageous labor and manufacturing cost in USA, due to demanding overpaid work unions and overly strict environment/safety law. Thus the burden in placed on another country where human lives are seemly worth less, where we, in the comforts of our home, cannot feel or acknowledge. If China started enforcing the same standards as the US, the corporation will target the next developing country, India, Malaysia, etc.
This is the vicious cycle of human greed and selfishness.
the answer to the solution is simple. only allow products to be sold in north america/europe that were manufactored under the same environmental standards we have here.
companies would be forced to clean up their act or not be able to sell their product. of course this is not something that can happen overnight but something that could happen over 10 years time.
unforunately all governments are corrupt and big business have them in their back pocket so that will never happen but its nice to dream.
i believe consumers would be more than willing to pay a bit more for things to make this happen but i know the corps won’t want their stocks to dip or have to take any kind loss. corporate greed is killing the earth more than consumerism. even such a large demand wasn’t there they would still want to make their products at the lowest cost them possible.
It is hard to find words to measure this. Why do we allow this? If there is such a thing as an “INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY” this should be their wake-up call ! If I am able to see a satellite photo of my backyard furniture, the world knows about all of this activity, yet it still continues. China should be condemned.
Great pics, sad sight though.
As a South African, China’s interest in our resources worry me.
Money can buy everything yet in the end will not be able to provide anything we really require like clean air and water.
For the record, I’m sorry.
Boycott Wal-mart.
What offends me so greatly is that individuals in first world countries see these pictures and think it has nothing to do with them, it is China’s fault. Fortunately there are a few more enlightened people that have commented here. As a number of these have said previously, it is our constant desire to upgrade our lives with more possessions bought at a lower price that is destroying the environment and some lives in these third world countries.
Also, these are disturbing images, and of course not indicative of China as a whole, but that’s the point – tourists don’t get to see this. It’s much cheaper to put a factory in a location where families are poor because then you get to pay lower salaries and the local government are more flexible regarding your industrial waste.
working jobs we can’t stand to buy shit we don’t need. Will we ever stop the nuttiness? Me thinks not.
Our American demand for “Cheap” manufacturing has really enabled this. It’s easy to lower manufacturing costs by moving the project to China when there aren’t the same environmental and safety regulations there.
There simply are no words to describe.
In America we have property rights. My neighbor does not have the right to pollute my air or water. It just proves that its easier to abuse people and areas when they do not have personal rights. Liberty and Freedom work to protect the individual. Central planning protects the state and corporation.
This is sad and horrifying. we are truly blind and dont realise this is the only planet we have!
this is the true cost of “made in china”
think about that next time you are at the store.
All western consumers have to keep these pictures in their mind, if they buy another redundant product “Made in China”. The poor people livling and working near these chinese factories only have a chance, if WE use our: Either we pass buying products OR we insist on production standards we have in the western world.
Scary pics indeed !
Amazing photojournalism! It is really sad to see “Made in China” behind the scene.
Now you know the translations of Chinese-English!
Congratulations it’s a amazing photos of a desolate reality.
The irony here has the US and Europe become more Eco-friendly and look down on this type of growth. We ourselves went through the very thing we started cleaning up and shipping these plants overseas to China where eco laws do not exist. If these pictures move you then do something about it stop buying products made in China… which is almost impossible to do.
It will be up to the people of China to create safe working conditions and pollution laws. The very same thing happened in The states and Europe it will just take time. Capitalism is at its best when all countries are on equal playing ground with labor laws and environmental laws.
You hit the nail on the head
All of this so Americans and Europeans can consume more and more.
It is China’s fault, they have the control of their country. they are Communist, they own everything. They are sacrificing their own people for it. They are the canary in the coal mine, the whole planet will end up this way if we do not control the population of humans.
China is most definitely no Communist my friend. It is only because of capitalist interested world-wide, concentrated in the first world, that has forced China to take such atrocious regulatory measures to protect its people. Sure their government is also at fault, but you are paying for these things to occur every step of the way.
WTF? you have neither read or visited the country. Obviously. Ban yourself from posting senseless dribble for 1 month. No internet for you.
I HAVE been there and read about it. We were in Shanghai mostly.
It is both this bad and worse, but the camera amplifies the tragedy.
Reality is that the suffering is well known, self imposed and driven by economics and government.
David,
It’s nice that you visited Shanghai, but it’s completely untrue to state that “they [the government] owns everything”. I’m sure that during your time in Shanghai you saw plenty of shops and stands owned and operated by individuals. Similarly, many of the big, polluting industries have been privatized over the years.
I agree with you that China’s governing bodies must reform their environmental oversight and are, ultimately, accountable for the welfare of their people. However, it would be foolish to ignore the fact that multinational corporations (MNCs) are a catalyst to this environmental tragedy. It is a complex world we live in and few things, if any, are black and white. Finger-pointing will not solve a problem of this magnitude and a viable solution depends on the the willingness between governments, non-profits, MNCs, and consumers! to collaborate. Given the current economic climate, there are few incentives for MNCs to follow a socially responsible agenda beyond the legal requirements. As consumers, however, we can vote with our dollars.
I think this is the only response worth reading. STEX, you offer an outside of the box way to look at it without arguing, nitpicking or pointing fingers like everyone else is doing here.
Thanks.
How is overpopulation to blame? Its the mismanagement of the population..
The more people the more we are able to support our selves, so long as hierarchical structures are not oppressing us. ..This same type of oppression has happened throughout history to various population sizes.
It is not overpopulation. That is elitist propaganda. They want to lower our value of human life so they can begin to manage us through eugenics like has always been the case in history.
Let’s run through this:
People live upon the land, they eat what grows upon the land and they dwell upon the land. Therefore, every person requires some minimum amount of space to exist. Now, how much space does each person require? That is up to debate, but what is not is that the available space is limited. At some point between population zero and falling-into-the-ocean, there is a hard limit upon the number of people that can exist in the world.
I wonder how small a space you’d be prepared to confine yourself to?
I suppose ignorance is a bliss…
pollution is occuring planet-wide, there is no political boundary where pollutions can travel. If you really want to control pollution then extend the environmental laws in developed countries, onto factories they own outside of the country. Every developing nation goes through this stage, it’s worse in some parts of the because well-developed countries take advantage of the inaptly regulated environmental laws in developing countries so people in developed countries can have a higher standard of living, at the expense of what you just saw.
There’s one person and one person only to blame for this: George W. Bush.
He did nothing during his eight years to put any pressure on China and just look at the result. These pictures should go along with ones of the killing fields of Iraq.
What a horrible Bush reference. Not a single American did too much to push China into regulations. Bush is responsible for this… responsible for the weather (Katrina), responsible for the attacks of 9/11… responsible for AIDS, etc. And if we gave Bush the death penalty… who then would we blame?
Liberals…. can’t live with em, can’t shoot em…
No one blames Bush for the hurricane itself, but many rightly condemn his lackluster response.
Some people blame Bush for 9/11, but most simply despise his use of the tragedy to fulfill unrelated agendas.
I’m certainly left of center and I think the GW Bush comparison made by Walter is absurd, and agree with you there. But your blaming liberalism isn’t adding to the conversation, and adds to polarization.
> Liberals…. can’t live with em, can’t shoot em…
This kind of irresponsible thinking is what elected and re-elected Bush.
“irresponsible thinking”
Now that is a keeper!
You don’t have a clue who is to blame, only idiots blame. Try to be part of the solution, not the problem.
You don’t have your history correct, look at the rise of China and the export of technology to China, That did not start 8 years ago! You might as well blame all of the politicians that let the USA export all the mfg jobs to third world countries, export our technology, and did not look out for our people.
Today the USA is more influenced by forign powers than the people who live and vote here. This is a bipartisan issue.
” You don’t have a clue who is to blame, only idiots blame. Try to be part of the solution, not the problem.”
Best thing I’ve heard on here. All we do is blame and participate in arguments, but no one really thinks on a solution nor tries to make a difference…
The first thing people need to realize is that neither party is on any peoples side.
What, are we all children here to believe politicians? “Read my lips, no new taxes”, ” I did not have sex with that woman” , “Sadam has WMD’s and we dont want the smoking gun that comes in the form of a mushroom cloud” , “I have not said that I am a supporter of a single-payer system”
All of these have been proven false and lies to the public. I could go back even further. THey all lie, and will say whatever fits their agenda and the people be damned
A House divided against itself can not stand, and politicians have our country divided, the world divided and we know that the oldest war strategy is to “Divide and…”
As long as the people keep buying the lies, the people will keep getting lies.
Politicians have a system, it is called problem, reaction, solution. This is how they get corrupted
If people want results, the “people” needs to hold politicans around the world accountable, that does not mean let one government hold another accountable.
Governments are supposed to be the servant of the people, not puppet masters!
As far as population, it is a scam. You could give every family ( based on a 3 person family, so it averages out) in the world 3/4 of an acre, teach them to grow their food and live sustainable and you would not even cover but about 3/4 of Austraila. That leaves the rest of the planet untouched, so the lies about overpopulation is just that, another lie.
Indeed, very well put. Sad though to have to wade through so much dreck to find a comment not evincing, at least to a small degree, the author’s having bought into the us vs them distraction, One promulgated to keep the poor and the even poorer at one another’s throat as opposed to identifying the common elements of their respective situations; or perhaps, and this is truly unthinkable from the perspective of those counting on such self-division, even a dawning recognition of just who are the actual beneficiaries of their shared misery.
Stop blaming other countries. If Chinese Government realizes this human tragedies, they should setup plan to help these innocents people. But they don’t, what kind of government is that? At least they should relocate their citizens to a safe place, and stop this madness. But for the enrichment of a few, they just ignore this human tragedies. If this happens in USA or Europe, or any civilized countries, these unfortunate people can sue their government and get compensations, but hell NOT in China, these people are destined to be the sacrifice lambs for the sake of a few rich people. Listen, STOP blaming other countries, it is the China problem and they should solve for their citizens.
Alan…sad to say…. imho of course the Chinese govt. realizes this. THEY DON’T CARE.
The citizens are the slaves. Many are simple, unsophisticated people who don’t have the means to organize and say enough already. Just like every other govt. to a lesser degree. But China is so huge. In a smaller country, say like somewhere in western Europe, the people would put a stop to this horrible exploitation of themselves and their local resources.
It’s all about the money and power, bottom line.
There will be a price to be paid for this.
Bravo and hugs to Lu Guang.
Man, shut the fuck up. The chinese government is to blame here 100% and no I am not American.
This is Socialism at it’s best. Be careful what you wish for and be sure to vote these progresive socialists out of office before you live in the socialist republic of the United States. To the unions and environmentalists that drove american industry to its grave and the big union government communist class that votes for more entitlement for government workers, you are to blame, you won a small battle but look at the result of your intollarance. If we would have worked with the lumber, steel, and mfg industrys in our own country the third world would have had a model and the technology to do it right and reduced all of this pollution abroad.
Gforceoutfitters, this is exactly what I’m thinking. Most people only look at the problem itself, but do not think in a larger scale what caused it. They keep blaming the Chinese govt for this environmental disaster, and yet demands it to fix the problem. If the Chinese govt can/is willing to fix it, then there won’t be this problem from the beginning.
Sure environmental regulations may fix the problem temporarily, however, if the people do not gain back the control of their own life, government won’t and will never look out for the complete benefit of its citizens. Government is composed of small group of people, and because of the selfish nature of the human being, this small group of people will always put their own interest first. Therefore unless absolutely necessary, government should always be limited. And if protecting the environment is to the benefit of the majority (no doubt), due to the same selfish nature of human being, the society at large will find solutions to correct itself, without governmental regulation.
What do you know about socialism? obviously not much, I’m an American living in Spain, and it seems to work just fine here. Environmentalists driving American industry to the grave?! I suggest you google some pix from the industrial revolution period in the U.S. P.S. You have exactly one constitutional right left in the U.S.—
to own a gun. Lovely.
yeah… we MADE them do it…
I think a lot of Americans feel jealous that China is becoming so powerful, but it’s important to remember the cost they’re paying too.
Jealous? No, my friend. We are not jealous. How can you be jealous of these pictures?
He obviously wasn’t saying Americans are jealous of the pollution. In fact,
he said Americans didn’t even realize the environmental impact of china’s industrial growth. It’s not like you have to read between the lines to see what his assertion was; it’s pretty plain and simple.
This is one of the saddest, depressing commentaries I’ve seen on the human condition in a long time. Makes me feel helpless and full of sorrow for them.
Only for them? It wil affect us in a very short time, and it’s also our fault buying things made there. This is the only pressure they’d understand.
References have been made to America in the 1900s; the Japanese went through this in the 70s (though I would guess not to extent that China has been pushed to), it is up to the people and more so the government of China to respond. However, I would support any foreign pressure on making China act as well.
And this is the country they gave the Olympic Games to – the pinnacle of an ideal was awarded to a country that has none. I despair for our planet. What hope is there.
Well, to be fair the few weeks that we were there they changed cleaned up a lot of the industrial areas in Beijing, some of them permanent fixes. It’s not as if the G8 countries are oblivious to the level of pollution that China is allowing in their country. Blame whoever you want for this, like everything progress will shape this in time. Get involved if you want to speed it up. But if you want some hope, look at every other industrialized country.
At first they use massive labor with cheaper plants to produce things for X cost.
Some factories modernize with the use of automated production and more specialized labor for a lower X cost.
The now uncompetitive companies “clean up their act” with government subsidies or investors and modernize their production and hire specialized labor for a much lower cost.
Then we get to hear about all the Chinese workers getting pissed because “dey took urr jobsssss”.
@Steven M: Actually this is all a result of a lack of environmental regulations in China, coupled with greedy companies/corporations. If it cuts costs and makes them more profit then who cares if we pump sewage and waste into rivers and the air? It’s obviously just smart business.
If we don’t defeat the Republicans in 2012 our country will be just as polluted…the GOP is determined to do away with all regulation..and that is the only thing protecting (haphazardly) us now…We as a nation must stand together. to not let this happen in America…otherwise like I said ….we are just a couple of decades, if that, away from a similar fate….
It amazes me how stupid humans are. Hey I know, for a few dollars let’s ruin almost all of our water supply, that would be awesome.
You got that right asdf.
You can thank American greed for this. If only people in the US would come off of their obsession with buying cheap made-in-China crap from Walmart, the world would be a better, less polluted place.
Then they wil just sell their crap to the Russians clown. This is China’s fault, period.
Stupidest comment ever. Like it’s America’s fault that China makes cheap goods. Those companies are not owned by Americans. If they were, there would be something to complain about. And by the way, what about selling and feeding poisoned milk to their own babies? Is that our fault too? And the deadly pet food? And the corrosive drywall? All our fault, right? There is a sense of responsibility totally lacking in China that is really no worse than America’s lack of responsibility, we just have stronger laws.
Stupid comment? China and US have a symbiotic relationship based on supply and demand. Our demand is in part their economic growth, which inadvertently fuels the practices above. This isn’t to say the responsibility falls in US hands, but you can’t deny a relationship that lends itself to this mess. Stronger laws? We’re second behind China in carbon emissions. We decide not to sign an global agreement to reduce them? Kyoto agreement anyone?
Um… We did agree to sign it. But when the time came, our new president (W) refused. Speaking of U.S. laws, they (and those of a few other countries) basically allow this to happen. U.S. Citizens are expected to behave morally and responsibly, if not, laws are there to ensure that they do. U.S. Corporations are not held to any standards, are treated differently under the law, and are not bound by any code of ethics, morals or responsibilities other than to there share-holders and the bottom line.
True. Well there you have it – corporate interests. Responsibility is trumped by greed, as “Bob” said.
Our collective problem is we view this issue through western eyes. I have traveled extensively in China. There are 1.3 BILLION people there and their system works for them. They have made enormous gains in the last 10 years, all do to our “greedy” investments. We are doing something, the dollars we spend have lifted their entire population up. The consuming class has risen to more than 400 million and continues to grow. Give them time to evolve. In the last 2 years their government has stepped up to require massive reform in environmental AND humanitarian regulations, but we need to know they started from nothing nine years ago. It took America 50 years to do what they have done in nine!!!!
Yes, it is stupid. Your comment is not too hot either. America’s biggest period of economic growth was decades before China became industrialized at all, in the years after WWII, so they didn’t help us. And yes, we have immensely stronger environmental laws than China. There once were rivers so polluted in America that they caught fire. We enacted tough laws and that is no longer the problem it once was, though we have a long way to go. If you don’t think we have strong laws, watch Erin Brockavich, it’s a true story. And I agree that we should have done better with the Kyoto agreement, but we have Bush and Company to blame for that. Wait and see if the Obama administration doesn’t improve on things.
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Sir, did you feel good after posting your business spam in this sad article ?
How come no matter what another country does, american greed gets blamed?
Because its more responsible to blame global issues on one source, albeit a considerable one. More than likely it’s probably a college kid who doesn’t understand the definition of global responsibility.
You’re right in that China would have probably gone down this route; but we’re not exactly guilty either. It was Clinton who opened up our borders to the PRC and American corporations (Wal-mart, of course, but also Target and Sears and Levi Strauss and Schwinn Bikes and many other companies, all looking for the lower costs) who took advantage of them.
You can’t even blame the American people fully on this. After all, if you had a super-center pop up fifteen miles away with what you wanted, would you go there…or someplace where you could order it from the catalog outlet? Didn’t think you’d pick the catalog outlet store…or the local outlet that barely has enough to supply the town’s population.
I blame the corporations and the people who own them. They’re the ones who profit off the above pictures, indeed they press for this stuff.
@dillinger: It’s because China is an export economy and we’re one of their major trading partners. I know, it’s not entirely our fault here in the States, but it is a factor. Just makes me sad to see this. Like someone else said, it reminds you of other countries going through their own industrial revolutions, except on a stupefyingly large scale.
Seriously, there are people still blaming the US for this? Everyone consumes, not just the US, furthermore the US doesn’t make China policy. The US cleans up it’s factories and has established environmental laws.
America bashing is all cool on the internet I know, but at least point the finger at the true guilty party. The ones sacrificing the environment because it’s cheap.
The U.S. could end conditions like this within 5-10 years with the stroke of a pen. If we set import tariffs on countries based on their environmental performance and human rights conditions instead of pleasing corporate interest for cheap foreign labor and natural resources.
Not only would this force China to improve conditions in their own country but might make domestic manufacturing viable again in the U.S.
Hey PeakOil, are you young enough to be drafted into the military? Just wondering.
I actually served my country 10+ years of environmental law enforcement for the Coast Guard. That is until they became part of the Homeland Security Administration. After that all enforcement of our own domestic environmental policy just became an after thought. The governor of the most polluted state in the country (NJ with over 100 super fund clean up sites) became the head of the EPA. While the Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and the INS watched 10,000 cargo container loads of goods enter the country every day (and that’s just in NY and NJ, BTW) without getting inspected and some of those not even documented. Many were undeclared cargo from places like Dubai and Saudi Arabia. This was less than six months after Sept. 11th. Meanwhile, you as a citizen couldn’t take a pocket knife with you to the airport.
I was never so disgusted with my country. I devoted ten years of my life to a just cause and had it all taken away (and not by terrorists). I felt that everything I had believed up until that point in my life was a lie. I realized just how naive and gullible most American are. I thought about moving to Canada or France.
Am I proud of my service? Some of it yes, some of it no. I know I did more during my career than W did not showing up for drills in the Air Nat’l Guard.
BTW – There will never be another draft. Short of a full scale land invasion of the U.S. It would be a policy disaster to send people who don’t want to serve in to combat. Besides, it’s all volunteer now. Many of our troops aren’t even U.S. Citizens yet. They join the USMC from places like the Philippines in exchange for their service the get U.S. citizenship.
You just might want to take a look at who has been funding this government war machine for the past decade by purchasing treasuries. I’ll tell you, it has been China. What do you think they’ll do when we tell them we are going to put tariffs on all their imports until they act like we want them to act. I’ll tell you again, they’ll want paid back. This may come as a shock to you, we can’t pay them back unless we print a boatload of money. Let’s say we do print a boatload of money and ship it over to them, guess where they will want to spend their US dollars? One word, Argentina.
Or we could just give them the big middle finger. War on.
why would one country force another country into taking care of itself? These conditions are affecting Chinese citizens, not American citizens. This is not a global community issue, it is a Chinese industrialization issue. America, Europe, and other parts of the world went through their own industrial periods which pretty much look exactly like this and China could have learned through the mistakes of so many other countries but chose not to.
It is effecting us. Global warming is just that, a global problem and a global responsibility.
..and people suffering so terribly like this is no problem of ours just because they’re not American citizens? come on. we don’t have to solve it, but we don’t have to contribute to it either.
with that said, America is NOT to blame, China is and always will be at fault for their own terrible treatment of human life.
simple solution; gradually decrease Chinese product import, gradually increase local production.
Am I to understand that you propose the global solution is that US should should start production industries on US land?
Hmmm?????
Yeah… I don’t think that is the solution… What products are are being made in these plants that create such pollution on this massive scale? What and how can we create a product to replace these products at the same time we create more jobs, more work, and more capital in the USA? I believe this would be the solution. We need to increase the the value of the dollar, and Americans need jobs… We must do this, and not at the cost of decreasing the value of American lives. I feel there is definitely an opportunity for economic advancement in the US, in the name of saving many lives and helping the environment world wide,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade
Many people rant against the environmental regulations in this country. Due to those regulations, the US manufacturing facilities no longer look or operate like this. Luckily, when the US was unregulated, the chemicals produced were not as toxic or produced in such huge quantities.
People in this country are so short sighted that the wish to remove environmental regulations that helped return this country to its beautiful present condition. I grew up in Pittsburgh at its height in steel production and rarely saw the blue sky that we take for granted today.
I think a lot of the people commenting here need to see photos of major cities and factory areas of the US, England, and Germany circa 1870-1930 give or take a few decades. Other than the newer fashion of architecture they are pretty much identical.
My grandfather has pictures of our city when he was a young man and the street lights are on at noon due to smog and you had to wear dark over coats that went from neck to ankle to keep your lighter color clothes from turning brown as you walked down the street. The incidences of breathing related issues was so bad that pretty much everyone at that time had someone in their family that was always sickly due to pollutants. The rivers were so thin you could walk across them much of the year. Not that you would want to do this because mercury, oil, fly-ashe, and raw sewage could be seen floating down the surface not to mention the smell. There were even instances where different clouds of pollutants would settle in the valley and be blown together forming toxic clouds that killed and/or badly injured people.
China and most of south east asia are currently going through their industrial revolution period. Its a time of great growth and the great consequences that follow. The US and western Europe to this day still have poisoned land areas from plants and factories currently running and we have been working on reducing these things for decades.
It’s not pretty. As someone who travels to China a couple times a year though I have been told many times by people living in city slums and rural poverty that though life looks so bad it’s actually better than what they had before.
So…
so what is your point? (not trying to be rude) that China will change? that one day it will become more regulated and preserving of human life, just on its own, as a ‘natural’ course of development, the way you suggest the U.S. did? i don’t think so, it will only get worse if it continues to be supported by external economies. China will do anything to increase their power, their own citizens’ lives are totally expendable.
You seem to be saying that a country cannot industrialize without this kind of pollution and where is your proof? Can’t they learn from our mistakes? Would you give them a free pass if they went through a period of slavery now, because we did? Does that make it their right? And your comment about life there being better than it was before is revolting, did you even look at the pictures? You think all those people with cancer and other pollution-caused diseases think things are better than before? I doubt it very much.
Holy wow. that is all I can say.
But dont you think that is more than obvious what is happening and what they are doing? Its not like they are uneducated about cause and effect and world history. They have internet access.
No matter what race you are, or where you are, we all need to stop buying these products and do what ever we can to stop this WORLDWIDE. We are all to blame. Our past generations and world leaders have aloud this to continue because they are too scared to act. Everyone talks but no one does nothing about it. We needed ACTION 10 years ago, and now more than ever. A world wide law should be in place that any person that is involved with heavy pollution or exploitation of our planet should be put in jail for life. This is no different that genocide, war, or murder. Our future and our children’s futures are being ruined due to a small percentage of GREEDY people, who use there filthy profits to pay corrupt officials so they can continue to exploit and pollute. Look at what is happening in Africa. If all of us start doing something today no matter how small, maybe future generations have a chance.
A world-wide law!? And who is going to enforce the rule of law? Maybe you’ve heard of a little thing called sovereignty. Don’t like what is happening in China? Stop buying their goods, call on your member of congress or parliament and tell them to stop trading with China, talk to your friends and neighbors. But seriously, a world-wide law!? OK, I’m on-board if I can be appointed supreme leader of the world.
I say laws and regulations in regards to the environment. That crap does not just stay in chinese waters and china’s air. Your getting your whiff of it too. Greenhouse gases effect us all.
agreed, but world-wide environmental laws and regulations will work just about as well as world-wide nuclear arms regulations.
ie. “please don’t?”
Japan had the same health/environment issues when it was rapidly industrializing after WW2. Only strong citizen movements, protests, and this kind of exposure can get them to clean up their act; hope they realize this kind of dirt growth isn’t helping anyone and they need some sort of regulations to continue sustainably
Still a problem for China. Citizens cannot speak out freely like other countries. They have to rely on people, such as the filmmaker, and world citizens to help give them a voice. We need to take this to our governments and squeak louder than lobbyists. This is like a war crime, only everyone in the world is suffering because of it. Global warming? We may be slow in America, but we are getting there-but China? The largest polluters in the world and we do nothing, just so Wal-Mart can keep things cheap.
look at your ignorant fucks, the first thing you say is : who to blame.
wow, very impressive, western education has educated you folks to entertaine other’s misery, i’m just not going to explain what is actually going on in china, since it’s better to watch your folks play stupid
it has nothing to do with capitalism or communism, you guys are stupid as fuck
As noted, there are environmental regulations in china — one of the captions “regulations specify x, they did y anyway”. Without courts or methods to restrict or harm those in control, then these things continue to go on.
Look up in your history books about how many people died in London due to pollution. As recently as 1962!
And that is acute pollution, not taking lost life from chronic exposure.
http://www.aerosols.eas.gatech.edu/EAS%20Air%20Pollution%20Phys%20Chem/Intro1%20AP%20History.pdf
Notice this quote from the above: Iron and glass then later steel manufacturing with uncontrolled coal burning until
abatement laws passed in 1941 – suspended due to WWII, but never did have much effect.
This photo album is outstanding. Many of these mistakes have been made before, it’s a crime to see this happen, This is where think global act local can change things. Cheap goods at home and exporting mfg outside of our boarders do not solve the environmental crisis that we face world wide. That is why it is so important to understand the big picture. The logging industry was shut down in the Pacific North West and then the rain forests started to disappear. The steel industry in the East was shut down and the acid rain fell in China. The mining industry in the US was shut down and before anyone realized it 93% of the rare earth minerals needed to fuel the Green Alternative Energy economy will be coming from a country with no EPA. We need to stop this madness. Go local and create jobs by building sustainable industry’s that produce what we need at home in an environmentaly safe manner. It may cost more but it will provide the materials for our economic strengh for the future. If we need to drill offshore California and the wild life refuge in Alaska to replace middle east oil, it’s a small price to pay. Drill here and start drilling NOW!
Good point.
Great photos…made me rethink about fairness. In China, the wealthy are stinking rich, and the poors are suffering because the wealthy business owners keep all the profit and pay the workers next to nothing….how ironic, this is the truth behind the so-claimed socialism, freaking pathetic.
Thats not entirely true. My friend, from Ghuangzhou (sp), her father was a very lucrative manufacturer, so much so the government took half his business and capped him at a certain income. He can no longer be free to make as much as he can to better his life, his family or the community around him.
The photographs of pollution and of damaged human bodies fill me with sadness.
How about human greed, from all nations and all classes.
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This is not a result of America or Europe – that’s just hating on the first world. The party at fault is the Chinese government. They have complete control over the people; everyone there is totally brainwashed to believe everything they hear (I’ve been there, it’s completely true). The government slowly gives the people small rights and privileges – the people call it reform, but it is really the government maintaining a leash on the people by keeping them loyal and thinking that “change is coming.” In reality, the government does not do a thing to either regulate the industrial impact on the environment or people.
The poorness of the Chinese people in general is something that’s difficult to help. There are so many of them, and only so much money to go around – someone has to lose whenever someone else gains. Another thing that people fail to take into account is the subsidized nature of Chinese life – everything is made cheaper by the government. You can easily be fed for 2 yuan (about 30 cents).
Fuck China! Im American and i buy their shit EVERYDAY! Thats no excuse!
Wow. Looking at that suffering, the horror, the tragedy of it all…nope, still don’t give a shit.
Congratulations, you are a shitty human being.
Actually no, I’m not. Shitty human beings are the ones that did the things you see in the pictures. I didn’t do jack. Maybe I’m not a good person because I’m not going to do anything about it, but that certainly make me a shitty person. Besides, what would you have me do? What would you do? What do you think anyone can actually accomplish? Nobody has the power to change this or fix it, you’d all be wise to accept that fact. Welcome to the real world.
No, the reason we think you are a shitty person is not that you are not going to do anything about it, but because, as you said, you don’t give a shit.
Terrible situation where progress is overtaking basic environmental consideration and causing significant hardship to the people in those areas.
Pollution is only an easily perceptible one of many problems in China. Purely handling it is simply useless as its causes are numerous and complex. Only a revolutionary reform from top to bottom can save this country’s future.
BTW, I’m a Chinese. And I hate Communist, ha.
wow – those are some crazy pictures
love some of these comments
We also trade heavily with Canada and Europe. Standards of living aren’t too shabby there. Most, if not all, of the countries trading with China take advantage of the fact that that there are lax.. rules? Anyways there is no way to stop it until either the Chinese gov changes their laws (most likely not soon) or the world unites and stops buying their goods (most likely never).
Certainly this is the fault of the Chinese Govt and a system that thrives on corruption and “it’s who you know, not what you know” that enables people to get along in life. Western countries have happily invested in China and moved their businesses (and jobs from their own countries) in search of the cheaper labour and overheads etc in China. The Chinese Govt has used artificial foreign exchange rate with the Yuan against US and other foreign currencies to retain this advantage. Western consumers have happily bought cheaper goods made in China so perhaps the blame can be spread around, albeit a little. China is not Communist and hasn’t been for at least the past 20 years, they are a Capitalist Totalitarian State. Fortunately for most other capitalist nations the combination of laws and consumer power ensures that scenes like this are less likely. If anything it should raise people’s awareness so that they make sure nothing like this ever happens in their own country, those of us that live in democratic nations that is. The Chinese people, the ordinary ones, won’t have a chance of forcing change by electing a new government as we are so fortunate to enjoy the right of doing in the West.
Most Americans have this sick mentality. They somehow think that they are in no way responsible for the suffering of others. Americans dont buy out of necessity, they buy out of greed & arrogance. Their greed & arrogance fuel the evil corporations like Walmart. These corporations look for the cheapest source possible – China, the slave empire. Chinese in turn keep the products cheap by cutting down on wages, not investing in QC & pollution control.
I hope this evil world order will soon come to an end.
Its very sad. American corporations & the Chinese govt are the biggest culprits. Next is the American people who engage in unbridled consumerism and the Chinese people who willingly let themselves to be treated like slaves. US & China economy are an inseparable big bubble. The sooner it bursts, the better for humanity. The irony is, no matter how rich China gets, the condition of these people will never improve. China cannot afford to spend the surplus dollars it makes. If it does, then the dollar will depreciate & the Chinese exports will plunge. China cannot even afford to increase the wages of the people; incorporate quality control in the manufacturing process; or implement pollution control measures. Any of these will increase production costs & thus reduce the exports. So China has to handover whatever extra dollars it has to US in exchange for paper !
This is the most depressing thing I’ve seen in a long time. We are going to choke this earth to death within the next 50-70 years. I’m glad I only have 30, at most, to live.
Those are fake pictures. I don’t believe in pollution. It’s Christian propaganda. Al Gore is a liar. Every satanist knows the earth is clean and hardly polluted. Our Father and Master Satan said so to me. I’m the Grand Magister Blackwood of the Temples of Satan. We have the Truth. The pollution is not real. Satan is coming. Prepare. http://gmblackwood.wordpress.com/
It’s very real…China has a long history of the most populated area on Earth…they have contributed much to humanity throughout time. But they also have a history of poverty. The nations of the world are going to want their carbon units…and China wants there’s to make the dream. I have seen China’s dream. There are many billions of people in our world, “a world where many people wanted more”, who will not be deterred from getting out of the poverty cycle one way or another. India is developing industry more and more, China has been developing. These billions of people want things, and they will get them.
And for Satan, well, Satan is not a being…Satan was never born…Satan is a place.
Let me sum it up for you morons who blame everyone else for China’s problems except China. Ready? This is going to be real hard on some of you.
China is it’s own country.
I know this is really hard for some of you to get through your heads, but you’re going to have to concentrate on this for one minute. China gets to decide what is best for them. There isn’t a world government to tell them how to act no matter how much you wish there was. You got maybe three choices if you don’t like what they are doing: Invade, Ask for Change, or Ignore. If you are lucky you’ll get some of your allies to do whatever you do.
Go ahead an ramble on about social responsibility, justice, equality, or whatever other BS besides the point issue you think is important. China gets to decide what is best for them. If they pollute your water, air or land, you’ve got the same 3 choices. These basic facts have existed for millions of years.
So go ahead and have a group hug while someone picks your pocket. This is why you fail.
Sad and tragic. A combination of ignorance and lack of education which push and feed some of the most sinister parts of human nature…greed, envy, arrogance…
Greed in the need for the corporations to produce and sell with the highest profits..at any cost to society…or people who are not them, whether they realize it or not (i.e. breathing the same toxic air)
Envy in the competition with other chemical factories in China again to cut each others prices…forcing corner cutting in all areas.
Arrogance in the way they think their lives are somehow more worthy that those taking the brunt of the pollution while in poverty.
I guess that’s the government’s role..in curbing such aspects of human nature so as to prevent disintegration of a society as a whole, but government is also run by human beings…
The more developed countries are so wise to move their factories to China, so that it’s the Chinese who suffer, instead of their own people. Who created most pollution in the last century?
I’m not saying that the Chinese government is not responsible, but it’s in fact the responsibility of all countries.
We should all push our own governments to do more for the environment. The climate talk is coming in December in Copenhagen. It’s time for every one of us to take action.
Tragic. That said, the West’s consumption is not to blame. It is greed. Chinese greed. China has over 1 Trillion dollars in their national bank (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6120906.stm). By a liquid measure, they are one of the wealthiest nations on the planet. Are they using that money to better their nation? For the most part, no. They are not spending it…they are looking to invest it outside their borders.
China is not monolithic. There is not one government. There are many levels of government…as there are many corporate entities…but the fault lies within their borders…and the ability to get control of their national situation must start at the top…and include a commitment to start spending some of the gains from this exploitation to mitigate the damage and protect their future generations.
Greed plain and simple. Stop trying to shift blame to the West. Taht’s just a pile of liberal BS. It’s their house to clean…and they could care less as long as the cash keeps flowing in.
Dudes, I am a Chinese, besides polution we suffer the blockage of foreign medias, foreign broardcasting channels, internet(many foreign websites), poisonous food…. we have to survive.
Im shocked to see the extent of the pollution in China. We all know that China is the world’s manufacturing plant, but the endless pollution is horrid and simply irresponsible.
The china is such a big asshole country, they are polluting their mother nature as well as our mother planet. There has to be done something by us all, if we dont stop all this then the time is not far when our mother planet would be consumed under polluted smoke and industrial dust…We all know that global warming is directly effected with all this…
Hey china if you are listening to all of us then please stop all this…What are you going to do if there is no one to buy your fuckin asshole products on the earth…
STOP THIS
Yes, only in China.
we taught them well
No we didnt we cleaned up our mess. They STILL haven’t learned to pick up after them selves.
Leave your isolation bubble and look around. We STILL haven’t cleaned up our mess and our great demand for cheaply manufactured foreign imports is what sustains this level of waste and destruction in China. But I suppose YOU would rather believe that the Chinese are animals and YOU are part of some enlightened nation of hyper advanced humans. Not in my backyard, eh?
well, basically ALL the stuff we all massively use and consume everyday, is made in China, because it is cheap for us. All the plastic and metal used in most of the products we consume and throw away is made in China.
China, India, Malaysia, Iraq… all wastelands for the American dollar. How quick for many to judge having never even left their state, much less their country.
Malaysia is NOT a wasteland for America! Have you even been there??
yeah…blame America, you fucking dick. Thats right…none of this has to do with Chinese communism and Chinese lack of environmental concern….
You are a fucking dick…ramble on, douche
If your talking about the USA, they did not clean anything. They still contribute 30% of the world’s pollution.
You are full of crap. Provide some data to back up your assertion. And before you start CO2 isn’t pollution.
Those are not pictures of CO2 and you will not find anything approaching them at any major US industrial facility.
Clean up what, exactly?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13water.html?_r=1
And yet that would be Perrier by comparison to what is included in these pictures.
Typical NYT’s hype piece. I happen to know the person who used to head the UIC program for West Virginia. She said she wouldn’t wipe her ass with that article.
If you want to know why kids teeth are rotting out, watch their parents give them Mtn Dew to drink. What do you think highly acidic soda does to enamel?
Yes I Agree. http://www.gbgbu.com
Maybe if there wasn’t such a massive demand for all the stuff bought in China: they wouldn’t have the demand to pollute as much. Yes, I’m talking to you western nations (USA in particular where mass consumption is king).
High consumption (and judging an economy by how much it consumes) is not a good thing at all. We need to find jobs elsewhere. Making crap we don’t really need has got us to the mess we’re in now.
Absolutely! If we stopped buying their stuff they would produce less. Same with SPAM emails if all idiots who buy after receiving spam would stop doing that no one would ever send spam again.
so much bollocks, people will send unsolicited mail whether it is responded to or not.
the elite will do what-ever keeps them in power
clean up the mess in your own back yard, that is all anyone can do at this time. that is until a world dominating tyrant forces folk to do otherwise.
Why the US in particular? The whole industrialized workd is a mass consumer now.
I think China is not an ” asshole country” ….. The owners of the various companies are deserved to be called so……. becoz the people from the poverty stricken villages are forced to work so that they can earn a living …. also the labour in that country is very cheap …… so da various indusries across the globe establish their own companies in such places …. it’s sad to see da people suffering in such places …. their government shuld take an immediate and a strict actions against such industries who are destroying not only the
the environment of their country but also affecting the atmosphere of our planet… take care all…..
I is the china Gov that INVITED in the polluters!
It is the China Gov Heads who get rich.
How does the gov “take an immediate and a strict actions against such industries” when the gov BROUGHT “such industries” to china in the first place? U think the UN Forced these industries on china?
If U sleep with open market socialist pigs then U stink like a open market socialist pig!
Hey! You are totally wrong….Unwise comment…
It’s uneducated answers like this that make me cringe. If you want to stop China from polluting the Earth, I suggest you abstain from buying anything “Made in China” then. The United States and other countries import billions and billions of dollars worth of products from China every year. Why? So stores like Wal-Mart can provide us Americans with affordable stuff. Try making it here in the U.S. and selling it for the same price. China is the largest developing nation in the world and like most if not all developing nations, they have a problem with controlling and regulating pollution.
Realize that although we have less than 5% of the worlds population, we release just as much CO2 as China does.
Of course, you probably drive a hybrid car, living in a solar powered, environmentally sustainable home.
I completely agree that China is messing up the nature and a lot of cleaning up needs to be done. But you shut your f***ing mouth because you know shit, asshole.
China is an emerging economy, and to be growing in such a fast pace she is giving a lot of pressure on the environment, like ALL of the already developed countries did before. China is one of the major polluting countries, but we should NOT forget that the USA is actually the world-leading polluter country, despite its MUCH lower population compared to China. We should not forget either, that other countries like the UK and Germany also went through their industrial revolutions, and because that happened about a century before, it does not mean that the damage they created is subordinate to China’s.
And although the developed countries are now trying to promote sustainable development, their pollution is still very significant compared to a developing country, and with this I must mention the United States of America. If we were to blame anyone for harming mother planet, the first to be blamed is without doubt, the USA. Because you don’t see pictures like this of the USA or any other developed country, does NOT mean that they are not damaging the nature.
First tell the leading ones to lead well so that the following ones can be on the right track. Of course the Chinese have to stop this, but remember this can only be achieved through global cooperation.
By the way, you should read more about this stuff, otherwise shut up if you’ve no idea about what you’re talking about you bloody ignorant.
lol you lol
Yes, but if China doesn’t do this, they will get pushed around and bullied by the Western Nations. Only with economic prosperity which can acquire military might, will other nations listen and not abuse a country. Source: the opium war and when all the western nations raped and pillaged Beijing in the late 1800′s.
Soooo Your saying the WHOLE goal of china is to make money so they can “acquire military might”?
“but if China doesn’t do this, they will get pushed around and bullied by the Western Nations.”
THE LAST 50 YEARS SHOWS THIS TO BE A LIE! THE WEST HAS NOT ATTACKED CHINA IN THE LAST 50 YEARS!
and there would be no reason to attack, as china wouldn’t be a threat!
The Iranians are becoming a threat so they could be attacked…military might makes U a target if U rattle your saber like china , North Korea, and Iran tend to do. Your basically telling Us that china wants military might to take Taiwan over and to bully the world. Gee didn’t USSR leave a bad taste in your mouth? Do we have to do this all over AGAIN? ANOTHER COLD WAR?! Or will U make this a HOT one?
This is not a lie, it is speculation.
Made in China – get used to it!
je ne comprends pas l’Anglais mais les photos parlent d’elles même,
je ne comprends pas qu’ils puissent utiliser les gens et surtout les enfants de cette manière
et pour la planète, on est loin de faire machine arrière pour laisser quelque chose aux générations à venir ….
désolant
Tu n´appris pas parler Anglais dans l´école ?
The chinese government knows about this, they do nothing. Sure its the factory owners fault as they are knowingly polluting the environment, but ultimately it’s the governments fault for not enforcing this. These pictures are utterly insane! Something must be done, and don’t you dare blame us westerners. Chinese products are shipped around the world so all you are at fault as well. Most new companies nowadays try to build factories etc inside the USA.
They don’t have or enforce these laws so that the companies that cause the pollution will actually put these factories there in the first place.
This same sort of thing used to happen in Western countries just the same. They just shipped the problem overseas once the public couldn’t stand it anymore. If the Chinese government decides to make and enforce laws against such practices, these factories will just go somewhere else.
The fact is, that this is what industrialization brings. Jobs that pay a pittance and brutal work conditions. And yet somehow people continue to flock to the factories to get these jobs because they’re actually better than what they had before.
I have to disagree that China is totally a victim here and the evil western corporations are the only bad guys. Yes, western corporations are extremely amoral and don’t give a sh!t about what happens in China. However, the Chinese government also does NOT give a shit what happens to their people to supply those western evil corporations. On top of that, the WORST conditions are not in factories that make things for export (sometimes those evil corporations even have standards?!), but the ones that produce for the domestic market in China. There were several brick kilns 2 years ago using slave labor, for the massive DOMESTIC construction market. The problem is lack of democracy. If the Chinese people could actually control their country (look out for slipping democracy in the US by the way) they could demand the government stop destroying their home or allowing it to be destroyed. Not buying Chinese goods will not help that, the US is not their only market. They will continue to exploit their environment and people and the people and environment of poorer countries (especially in Africa, look what China does there) until they develop some real human rights.
I don’t think it’s a so call “evil western culture”
Western guys are human-being also!
We are human-being also
I’m proud to be a chinese but I’m shame for the fucking PRC.
Wake up!醜陋的中國人!
when USA “cleaned up its act” in the 70′s they flogged a lot of crappy machinery to India and china, rather than scrap it. This and the massive buyup by Walmart stores as a prime offender , has driven this cruel inhuman factory/manufacturing mania. and those that own it could care less!
We the supposedly? civilized nations support this inhumanity to our fellow man with every purchase. However if we do not buy,. consider what will happen to these people then, withput even the pittance they recieve now?
Nasty catch 22 isnt it?
To the above comment that USA is building in its own country, Crap! they are moving to mexico venezuela and eyeing off Africa as the next place to exploit!
I sincerely hope that USA economy hits the wall for real very soon, China is likely to go down too, and that my friends, will severely affect the buy and throwaway culture so many accept and demand.
So be it, sooner the better!
Watch the Pharma s too they are using people like this, in India and china and africa for Trials of drugs they canot try in their own lands.. easy to hida a death or many in a poor land with desperate people.
Makes you wish THIS had been shown Worldwide BEFORE Beijing got the games eh?
No many of Us screamed about the games , but no one cared.
Well, the whole world wants to buy CHEAP, and that´s what the Chinese can do best… producing CHEAP, with help of their children ( destroying their childhood ) and with NO rules or regulations. Here in Germany, everyone is being told to keep the country tidy and clean, the cars´fuel-comsumption goes down year by year, our government wants to save the whole world ( and nature) … but how should we be able do that, as long as China (1.4 billion people) does NOT stop that shit? I´m very angry about that. Maybe Europe and the USA shoud stop trading with them or apply sanctions.
Did sanctions help the Iraqi people? When have sanctions EVER done any good?
Stop company’s from shipping there old machinery over seas, stop company’s from shipping factories overseas and yes STOP TRADING with them!
Maybe CHEAP is even more important as CLEAN … Who thinks about a clean nature and about our planet´s future while being in walmart? No one does. “CHEAP” rules the world. Unfortunately…
… mre important THAN clean… sorry – my “german english” is awful sometimes
every time i go back to visit the country i was born in im struck by the lack of compassion in all the people. everyone is just absorbed with themselves and where does that leave the country.
Let me say it in gold old german:
Es ist einfach zum Kotzen, was die verfluchten Chinesen unserer Erde antun, nur um möglichst billig produzieren zu können. Das funktioniert nur, weil sie keine Auflagen und keine Gesetze befolgen müssen, und weil sie ihre kleinen Kinder für fast umsonst schwer arbeiten lassen – und weil WIR Europäer und Amerikaner denen ihren billigen Schrott abkaufen. Das macht mich wütend.
Isn’t it a shame shame babe?
Yes I do think so
WTF are the goverment ‘s doing? Only develop the heavy industry but give up the whole nation?
I CAN ONLY SEE THE END OF THE WORLD.
2010 is coming,if the fucking shity empty-headed PRC still cares nth.
But maybe only HK or TW ppl can see this website,those bitches still looking for money,money and money.
Damn.
Anyone seen the film “home” ? Amazing pictures of our heavily polluted world… maybe they sould show this movie every single one in China and India…
Once the communism still holding china,the empty-headed people will still cares nothing,
It’s the problem of the policy itself,the communism leads the country turns downwards since 50s.long live the VIIV.
Empty-headed… in fact
I´m shocked by this pictures.
But I agree with Timo. The reason for this is that we just want to buy cheap and that noone in europe or america takes a look how its produced. If we take a look, we can chance this.
Why don’t we just stop buying products made in/received from China? I live in a small town in Maine and we’re trying to do just that.
Interesting. Horrible. However, if I decided to do a photography piece called “Pollution in America”, I’m sure I could find just as disturbing subjects for my piece.
So, all you cutting down other countries for such atrocities, maybe you should look within your own country before you start throwing stones.
I’m an American and I’m proud to be one but I’m not going to excuse what’s going on in our own country with pollution and homelessness.
Open your eyes.
– Bob
Bob, A very sensible comment and one I concur with. I’m in Australia, I’m sure I could find shocking images to show.
None of us are innocent in the pollution game. And playing the blame game is not going to make it stop. We need to cut down on our personal consumerism and recycle and reuse to help stop the demand for the products China is making here. No demand=no sales so it will dry up (eventually) by market forces.
All this mud slinging is getting us nowhere fast, folks!
Odille
Brought tears to my eyes!
Is that a pair of pants and shirt laid out to look like a body in pick 12? This story is horrible, how can people do this to other human beings? This world is going to hell in a hand basket.
The reason is not that we want to buy cheap. Everyone wants to buy cheap, everywhere, always did, do, will do. There is nothing wrong with that.
A bit more than a quarter a century ago, I was traveling through towns near Usti nad Labem, in former Czechoslovakia. 6 smoke stacks, each spewing smoke in different colors, were the landscape markers for about 40 square km. The waters of Labe (Elbe) had a multicolored crust similar to a picture you’ve seen above. The 1 cm ashen dust covering the whole area. Smell. Disease. Pale people.
By mid seventies, there was not a river in that country that was not polluted. If you saw a chance fish, it was dead one. You had to go way upstream to see it alive.
I would love to see someone blaming it on USA. To see the contortions of the blame-USA-first folks.
You can’t. It was the communist regime that put their interests ahead of people. Same with China. “It’s for the people”, they say. Sure is. As under any socialist communist regime, it is for those people that are more equal then others–the nomenclatura, the red aristocracy. They sometimes arrange show trials and execute a director of this factory or that. Just to generate an impression that something is done. He was after all disposable, as are all other people that don’t form The Circle. A 5-minute kabuki theater. The cog wheel has been removed and replaced by another.
Everyone is discussing who is responsible, who is to blame. If you can blame others, it may feels better for a moment.
But in the end, what we really need, is to be full of compassion and sympathy. When we manage to really feel for us and feel for the others, I think we will take the right descisons. We will manage to look at the products before we buy them and supporting people who take care of the people and the environment. It doesn’t make life easier if you always think what the effects of our actions may be, but I think it does make living better for ourselves and for others.
Compassion is a good way to take responsibility of our actions and to try to make things better for all, without being hard on oneself or on others.
I am trying my best, and that is all you can ask from people, including me and YOU and all the ones that have been named “asshole” up to now.
Regula, Switzerland
This is an outstanding expose of the hell that China is.
It is not enough, however, to put these pictures up.
We need to see the names, people, companies, industries and cities repsonsible for this industrial malpractice and they must be put out of business.
This is how we mitigate this problem and the culture of destructive greed inherent in China.
Bob: “Interesting. Horrible. However, if I decided to do a photography piece called “Pollution in America”, I’m sure I could find just as disturbing subjects for my piece.”
Not likely. EPA would have kicked the a$$ of the culprit before you find it.
Bob: “So, all you cutting down other countries for such atrocities, maybe you should look within your own country before you start throwing stones.”
A good idea.
Bob: “I’m an American and I’m proud to be one but I’m not going to excuse what’s going on in our own country with pollution and homelessness.”
I am a Canadian, but also proud of USA. My daughter is an American.
Pollution, see my EPA comment. Did you know that USA has now 45% more forests than in 1945? You my find a large scale strip mining in places. But as the operation winds down in some area, you’d see saplings of trees already taking a hold and remodeling the ugly landscape. There are some towns, like Picher in NE OK, that bear witness to previous era of recklessness. But people did not have a comprehension of the impact then. Nowadays, a plant can’t be opened without a serious environmental impact assessment. Forget scary movies, they are a fiction.
Not sure how homelessness is related to the environmental issues. I’ve seen folks sleeping in cardboard boxes 500 yards from a shelter that was 1/3 empty. I guess that the problem was the shelter did not allow needles inside, judging from the heaps of then around.
I understand your concern. Tell me, how many of the homeless did you invite to your house/apartment, let them take a shower, gave then clothes you no longer wear, and fed them? Not one? Ah, I see… it is someone else’s problem…
If you could show these images to somebody from 400 years ago and told them it was a painting of what hell looks like, they’d believe you.
If you told them this is the future, they’d scoff.
Wow – so if this is the future now, just imagine how bad it will be in just another 20years.
I hope the Myans were right 2012 12 -12 .
The division between the have & have nots is too great & a change is needed!
I am not Chinese, but i do mourn with u for these depressing facts.
down with the communist PRC, down with all dictators of the world …
to reach freedom and democracy, some should give their life and soul for the others …
democracy is not free, the price is blood…
wake up from the deep sleep embraced u.
LOL yea democracy is going to change anything
Let’s not forget, too, that America (~4% of the world’s population) is still creating 25% of the world’s pollution. So those who think we have cleaned our act up better think again – there is need for improvement globally, and no nation is in a position to start finger-pointing. We all live on the same ball of dirt, and ultimately we all sink or swim together.
…NOT WHEN WE HAVE POLITICAL DIFFERENCES….BUT YOU ARE TO NAIVE TO ACCEPT THAT. NOBODY WILL EVER BE COMPLETING ALIGNED.
I am not apologizing for China’s pollution. And America is not to blame for the MESS they are creating
I think there is something I must say.
Firstly, I think China government is making efforts to protect environment. The vehicle’s emission limiting is a good example.
Secondly, I think it is a process for a country development. as we all know, developed countries must have gone through the stage with huge energy waste and environment pollution for industry development. America’s actinochemistry smog affair in the year of 1936, and London’s smog affair in the year of 1952 and so on are good examples.
And America now is still the biggest energy consumption country. Should not it be blamed? So I think we should see the problem from the other perspective not just the problem itself.
What’s more, I think the picture is not comprehensive. As we all know, developed countries transfer their polluted industries to developing countries because of the not so strict environment policy. Why the developed countries use this approach? It should be a reason for developing country’s pollution.
so don’t be so sensitive with me ,and don’t blame to much others, just make your efforts to protect the only one earth,
So much for the nature, but what about the HUMANS? Aren’t they there in those pictures? Why do we want to preserve nature at all?
I agree that consuming 1st world is a major cause for all this trouble, but it also has created work and hope in those 3rd world countries. I guess if everyone just focused a bit more on HUMANITY, most of these problems never occured in the first place.
I think China’s government should be hold responsible for this. After all, these are CHINESE people afflicted with cancer and all those terrible diseases. Blaming west for being consumerist will not help those people after all. I am from a 3rd world country myself and I know how it’s easy to blame west for all the problems. But groaning and swearing is not going to do us any good.
The problem is one of technology! Inefficient technology! Backwards, old, sad, American, British, European, technology! Better is available! For example, Americans use 16 gallon per Shiite toilets to this day! to fill their lake and rivers, seashores, with Shiite! The fvcking fools! trapped in a technology! a convention! Oslo, Norway, bio-gasses its Shiite into fuel for its buses! then they take the sludge and make top-soil amending fertilizers! The Norwegian cycle in complete! Not the American one! Certainly not the Chinese one! Sweden used the heat from Nuclear cooling towers to heat village homes, greenhouse gardens, even de-ice slippery streets, a complete cycle! Americans take great pride in there many cooling towers across the land – the fvcking fools! Pride in their follies! These are monuments to their inability to cope with technology! China in its great haste to enter the industrial age, copied a very bad example! the wasteful American! and now suffer for it! China has only to start thinking for itself, and let go of America’s wasteful ways! Every effluent flow is resource wasted to a practical, thinking, scientist! Every effluent flow can be used to benefit! Every effluent flow represents a concentration of resources, an anomaly, and must be re-used to exhaustion! China must use its greatest resource, its massive scientific intelligentsia, to make changes in this direction! Even China’s great deserts have Solar value, and China is responding to this! Wind Power is growing in China, Tidal will soon come into play, and the frugal, practical nature of the Chinese people, if set free will soon make good use of the most disturbing of these “Resource Flows” Unlike America, where ROI is king, the end-all to logic and practicality, China remains communist in nature, and flexible on this point. This alone may be their saving grace! Many of the very ugliest occurences in the technologies of the West are ROI driven alone! Short-cuts to the big bucks! Sins against mankind and nature, driven by obsessive accounting equations for a better bottom line – nothing to do with the greater nation, cleaner air and water, bigger or better for the proletariat, the peons, just the fastest route possible to black ink on the bottom line, to appease the clamor from the almighty shareholders! This is what drives designs decides technology in America! Dangerous? See Love Canal, the “Super Fund”, and watch closely for the hidden sorrows of America! China! restore your communist roots! Stop this destruction of your environment for ROI! You did not march to this drum before? Why now?
Steve Holden says:
“Let’s not forget, too, that America (~4% of the world’s population) is still creating 25% of the world’s pollution.”
BS statistics made up by irresponsible blame-USA-first people. USA produces 25% of the world industrial output. You (or someone for you) somehow equate output = pollution. It is not directly correlated. That is not to say there are no problems. But mindless exaggerations help no one.